Hi, my name is Suzi and I was invited here by hugapitbull from the tripawds.com forums, where I go by the screen name dharmadog. I have had APBTs, ASTs, or mixes for about 9 years now and I gradually became involved in volunteer rescue work over the past several years. My fiance and I currently have 4 dogs: Barley, male GSD/APBT mix; Otis, male APBT; Lebowski, male DDB/APBT mix; and Dharma, female and our newest rescued APBT mix. I think hugapitbull mentioned me in her post about the TIME magazine story on the MO 500. My Dharma is one of the 500 rescued dogs and is included in TIME's online photo essay. She's the tan/fawn tripod with her tongue sticking out in picture #2 in the slideshow... she's a sweet, silly girl. I was very lucky to be able to spend some time volunteering at the "secret bunker" where HSMO sheltered the dogs from the bust and it was an incredible experience. The rescue I work with has taken in several of the dogs, including some with special physical and health needs such as Dharma and Fay.

We live in Illinois and don't have any children, except the dogs to whom we happily devote our entire lives. I'm a director at a social services nonprofit that focuses on the prevention of child abuse and neglect, so between my day job and my rescue work a lot of my time is spent seeing both the absolute worst and absolute best that humanity is capable of. Now that Dharma has settled into our home, we're working toward earning her CGC and therapy certifications. Our hope is that she will do therapy visits with children with disabilities.

Thanks to hugapitbull for the invite and I look forward to getting to know the forum members!

*smacks head* Pictures, of course! How could I have forgotten the most important part of any dog forum intro! Thanks for the welcome and here are a few pics...BARLEYOTISThe BIG LEBOWSKI... he's now about 85 lbs at 1.5 yrsDHARMAAt the HSMO bunker, before her mutilated leg was amputated...Happy to finally be home...

Run Hard at the Rainbow Bridge My Angel Sock-M! I Love You Baby Girl! Now that your Mom Starlit is up there too, please help her learn the ropes, love and keep her company until I can see you both again. Starlit I love you!http://i14.tinypic.com/2a8q345.jpg